If your reaction to this heading is aversion, you are not alone. Most women dislike and avoid office politics, associating them with gossiping, meddling, lying, sucking up, and manipulating. However, none of these negative behaviours help career advancement in the long term, or even the short-term. And ignoring politics does not make them go away or decrease the value of positive political skills.

An executive from the banking industry told me that when people called her political she vehemently denied the label and took offence at being viewed that way. Now she takes it as a compliment. Her insight came during a performance review when she was told that no one knew her in the large organization. She realized that to be an effective and influential leader she needed to become political. In other words, working in her office quietly and efficiently was not enough.

Indeed working hard and doing a perfect job will, in most cases, cause you to lag behind political individuals. Those colleagues who, in addition to having technical expertise, manage important relationships with people who can reward them. Politically savvy individuals tend to be both competent and connected. One senior lawyer defined being political as being sensitive to others’ needs, ambitions, and ideas (the connected component), which in turn helped her to have increased credibility with her team and to lead more effectively (the competent part).

To help you embrace office politics I devote an entire chapter in my new book that will be out in the fall  – Understanding Gender at Work – to the topic. To avoid any negative reactions to the word politics, I use instead the term social intelligence. The five dimensions of social intelligence discussed in the chapter include:

• situational awareness – having the ability to read people and situations to accurately interpret people’s motivations, intentions and emotions;
• organizational awareness – understanding the culture and values of the workplace to know, for example, what is rewarded and who can influence your career;
• influence and authenticity –speaking with conviction, being clear on what you value so others will come to trust you, and creating alliances;
• relationship management – building and maintaining connections through social skills such as predicting, preventing and protecting others from losing face, and
• communication – delivering confident and clear messages that allow your ideas to get support as well as dealing quickly and constructively with conflict.

Being socially intelligent in the way discussed in my book will not only help you to be more successful, it will also protect you from being blindsided. Social intelligence, unlike negative office politics, works like a shield and not a sword. It won’t hurt others, but it will help you avoid injury and ensure your success and advancement.